February 10, 2007
a few strange moments on 23rd Street
A chance encounter with Bob Nelson in stopping by to photograph the leaning and long-vacant house on 23rd Street that was taken apart piece by piece over the last week or so.
before (source photo by Joya)
A particularly decrepit house on 23rd Street, on the blank block between Cedar and Burton Streets, was taken apart and hauled away this past week, leaving only the brick foundation. We stopped by this morning to take a picture for the record, and met Bob Nelson.
Bob Nelson and worker on 23rd Street
We asked Bob if he knew what was going to happen on the lot. He said that he owned it, and was going to put a new house there. Trying to get a sense of what he might build, we asked if he’d built in Church Hill before. In response that query, Bob said that he had 20 properties in the area. When asked directly, “vinyl or hardiplank?”, he seemed to waver but said probably hardiplank at this time.
We asked Bob if he contracted out the construction or did the work himself. Bob said that his company did all the work. Bob then volunteered that he also has SRO housing for guys that would otherwise be homeless and these are the guys that he uses for his construction crews. He seemed proud of this vertically-integrated process, saying “I own the land, I own the houses, I own the workers” (after which he kind of caught himself).
All in all it was strange few moments, and it left me a little worried about what might get built on the lot. Does anyone know of any of Mr.Nelson’s other houses around the area?
Don’t worry a new CRACK house coming near you…. SOON:)lol jus kidding…….
But why cant the city just turn Church Hill into one big ROW HOUSE district??? and use various styles like the new renovated ones on venable st (the ones that look like something out of baltimore). Or some of the ones off Broad. I’m sick of seeing houses lets turn Richmond into that city we know it can and should be!!!
I’m wondering if he tore down the house simply because the city issued a few building code violations that cost him some money in fines, so he said, to heck with it and tore it down (probably not thinking that they’re still going to cite him for grass and weeds over a certain height). I’ve heard from several people lately who have been cited for code violations, people I know who own property that didn’t even look in that bad shape, it appears that the city, in addition to hiking the tax assessments of a bunch of stuff up here, has also been doing a whole lot of code violations. (If you live near something that you think does not meet code, and you think it has not been cited - well, try calling the appropriate city agency, you might be surprised. And if it hasn’t been cited - well, call in the complaint. Add to the money the city is collecting, if nothing else!)
Mr. Nelson hand-demoed a house just north of the Bill “Bojangles” Robinson statue, on the west side of Chamberlayne Parkway, in the fall. A new house is going up on that foundation.
Interesting… I know exactly which house you’re talking about. I’ll have to give it a closer look now.
this old place is right behind my house on Jessamine. It has been nothing but a vagrancy, illicit-sex, and drug haven since we moved here 3 years ago. Depsite it’s “historical” value, I am HAPPY to see it go; however, I hope the structure that replaces it is nothing like the vinyl barns that already exist in our block. Poor decisions were made regarding those structures, and I hope this dude is a bit more style-oriented.
This man lied to me! He doesn’t own that property, he and his crew were hired for the demolition. What a kook!
John, does sound like a real kook - but was there a demolition permit issued for the demo, as well as for the one Lora posted about? Makes me wonder if there was…and to Sam, good luck getting something decent there.
I represent the owner of 812 n 23rd st, Ms.El. We are currently selling the lot for $30K. If there are no takers we will build on it.
I have known Bob for a couple of years, and what I know is that he’s full of it. But he does do great demo work for a great price.